Podcast Summary: Honoring God's Voice

Podcast: Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Episode: Honoring God's Voice | Debra Simons | Holy Ghost Meetings 2025 | Wednesday AM
Date: January 29, 2025
Main Speakers: Debra Simons, Nancy Dufresne, Leanne

Episode Overview

This episode, featuring guest minister Debra Simons and appearances by Pastor Nancy Dufresne and Leanne, centers on the importance of recognizing, honoring, and following the voice of God. Through personal testimony, scripture, practical guidance, and candid discussion, the speakers urge listeners—especially the next generation—to cultivate a hunger for God’s guidance, value both the written and spoken word, and remain attentive to the Spirit’s leadership in all areas of life and ministry.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Necessity of Honoring God’s Voice

• Desiring to Hear God (00:10 – 04:00)

  • Debra shares how a song lyric (“I love His voice”) during a recent church service deeply impacted her, redirecting her message and filling her with examples of God’s guidance in her life.
  • The desire to hear God is foundational: "You don't recognize his voice if you never desire it. You first have to desire to hear God for yourself." (Debra, 01:15)
  • It's vital to appreciate and honor God's willingness to speak, and to expect Him to do so.

• Personal Responsibility and Spiritual Maturity

  • Maturity in faith involves recognizing God’s voice, which grows from desire and experience.
  • Debra references Dr. Frank: “If you followed a voice and it didn’t work out well, just don’t follow that voice again, it was the wrong voice.” (Debra, 02:10)

• Making God's Voice a Priority

  • Pastor Nancy’s practice of keeping a notepad by her bed in case God speaks at night highlights honoring His voice through readiness and action.

Biblical Foundation for Hearing God (04:00 – 10:00)

• Scriptures Emphasizing God’s Communication:
  • Psalm 29:4: “The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of Majesty.”
  • Psalm 85:8, Psalm 91:15: When we call, God answers—a biblical expectation of interaction.
  • Psalm 95:7: “Today, if you will hear His voice…” stresses the relevance and availability of God’s guidance in the present.

Testimonies of Hearing and Following God

• Early Experiences & Pastoral Guidance (10:10 – 23:30)

  • Debra recounts getting saved through Brother Copeland’s ministry and shares her first vivid inner experience of God calling her to teach/preach.
    • Before moving forward, she sought her pastor’s confirmation, bravely submitting her experience for spiritual oversight.
    • When the pastor did not confirm, she put the vision “on the shelf,” but the sense of calling grew. She sought God’s clarity, who told her, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Debra, 17:40), leading her to pour effort into her church without forcing her calling.
    • Lesson: God’s true voice brings peace and aligns with the order of the church, not division or contention.

• Learning Through Mistakes

  • Debra and her husband’s business venture failed because they had zeal but not God’s leading: “We did not have God’s voice. We had a good idea.” (Debra, 32:50)
  • After a hard season, they learned to only step out when they had God’s clear direction.

The Balance of Personal Hearing and Church Order

• Personal Relationship without Independence (23:30 – 28:00)

  • Debra cautions against elevating personal revelations above spiritual authority or church order.
  • She emphasizes accountability and safety in collective confirmation: "I want the safety of counsel. I want to know that I really am hearing from God or I'm hearing it the way that I should." (24:45)

• Role of Pastors and Teachers

  • Rather than telling congregants what to do, her role is to help them recognize God’s voice for themselves.

Illustrative Stories on Hearing and Obeying (28:00 – 38:00)

• Ranch Story: “Skin It and Check the Inside”
  • Debra’s husband, Johnny, ignored a specific warning from God regarding a cattle business, learning the hard way: God often speaks in terms personally understandable to the individual.
  • "[God said] ‘skin it and check the inside.’ Now if God had said that to me, I’d go, ‘Skin what?’ He answered him in a way that he would understand." (Debra, 30:40)
• Obeying God with Financial Sacrifices
  • Testimonies about giving financially, selling their ranch, and watching God keep His word encourage listeners to trust and obey, even when it seems risky.

Practical Guidance for the Next Generation

• Developing a Hunger for God’s Voice

  • Debra expresses her deep desire for her children and grandchildren, and the next generation of believers, to develop a strong personal relationship with God where they discern His voice but remain rooted in church order, accountability, and the Word.

• Scriptural Grounding for Every Word

  • A couple in the congregation faced childlessness but stood on three scriptures, underscoring the importance of scriptural backing when claiming God’s voice (42:30).

• God’s Voice Is Not for Winning Arguments

  • The voice of God brings peace and doesn’t serve selfish ambition or church division. “God’s voice isn’t so that you end an argument. ... God’s voice brings peace. When we hear God’s voice, it settles things.” (Debra, 44:30)

Principles for Life and Ministry Leadership

• Be Led, Not Driven (46:50 – 51:00)
  • Nancy warns against impatience or being pressured into action by opportunity: “God leads, He doesn’t drive. ... I’m not led by opportunity. I’m led by the Spirit of God.” (Nancy, 47:10)
  • Growth and success are measured not by size or activity, but by following God’s leading.

Honoring the Ordinary and the Spectacular in Hearing God

• Avoid Seeking Just Spectacular Experiences
  • Nancy: “Not trying to get an experience like, I have to hear a voice. No, you just have to know what he’s saying to you. Sometimes it’s spectacular, sometimes it’s just, I know.” (Nancy, 51:30)
• Never Entrust Your Hearing to Someone Else
  • “Don’t ever entrust your hearing to someone else because you know Him.” (Nancy, 63:00)

Leanne’s Testimony: Knowing the Holy Spirit (52:25 – 62:57)

• Breakthrough in Knowing
  • Leanne shares a pivotal moment while meditating on John 14:16 (“the Spirit of truth ... you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you”) that revolutionized her self-perception and functional relationship with the Holy Spirit.
  • She realized that confessing the Word—that she knows Him—changed her experience: “If He says, I know Him, then I know Him, whether I feel like it or not.” (Leanne, 55:48)
  • After this revelation, Leanne began praying and ministering differently, experiencing immediate evidence of anointing and even visually seeing the glory cloud she’d yearned for as a young student.
  • Memorable quote: “The Word works, that if you’ll confess it and speak it and take it and apply it to your life.” (Leanne, 61:49)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Debra Simons:

  • “You first have to desire to hear God for yourself.” (01:15)
  • “If you followed a voice and it didn’t work out well, just don’t follow that voice again, it was the wrong voice.” (02:10)
  • “If you hear God, you don’t have to be combative over it … His voice brings peace. It doesn’t bring division.” (17:50)
  • “Other people’s excitement is not God’s voice. And you can’t step out on anything without God’s voice.” (32:50)
  • “You don’t use God’s voice as a way to get your way … God’s voice brings peace.” (42:00)

• Nancy Dufresne:

  • “God leads, He doesn’t drive … I’m not led by opportunity. I’m led by the Spirit of God.” (47:10)
  • “Don’t ever entrust your hearing to someone else because you know Him.” (63:00)
  • “Hearing is not just for the preacher. It’s for all of God’s people.” (62:57)

• Leanne:

  • “If He says, I know Him, then I know Him, whether I feel like it or not.” (55:48)
  • “The Word works, that if you’ll confess it and speak it and take it and apply it to your life.” (61:49)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:08 – 04:00: Introduction and impact of "I love His voice" song lyric
• 04:00 – 10:00: Foundational scriptures illustrating God’s communication
• 10:10 – 23:30: Debra's call to ministry, submitting spiritual experiences for pastoral oversight
• 23:30 – 28:00: Balancing personal hearing with accountability and church order
• 28:00 – 38:00: Illustrative stories about business decisions and hearing God
• 38:00 – 46:50: Lessons learned on obedience, faith, and testimonies of God fulfilling His word
• 46:50 – 51:00: Nancy on not being led by opportunity, but by God’s voice
• 51:00 – 52:25: The difference between seeking spectacular experiences vs. knowing
• 52:25 – 62:57: Leanne’s testimony on John 14, confession, and recognition of the Spirit
• 62:57 – End: Final encouragements—apply faith to God’s promises, trust that you will know what to do when you need to know

Closing Thoughts

Throughout this episode, a consistent message emerges: hearing and honoring God’s voice is essential for every believer—not only for major life decisions but for everyday direction. The speakers advocate scriptural grounding, practical steps for cultivating sensitivity to the Spirit, and the importance of spiritual oversight and humility. Their stories illustrate that when God speaks, whether through His Word, inner witness, or circumstances, His voice brings peace, clarity, and fruitfulness, and is worthy of being prized above all else.

“I love His voice.” Let that be the desire and testimony for every generation.